Oklahoma native JD McPherson takes his musical cues from an earlier era: classic rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, and — with his latest album, this year’s Nite Owls — ’60s surf music.

These influences were clear in both his originals and the covers he played during his recent appearance at The Atlantis.

At The Atlantis on Oct. 1, JD got things started with two songs from Nite Owls, “Sunshine Getaway” and “Just Like Summer.” He then continued with more from the album.

“The Rock & Roll Girls,” JD said, was inspired by reading about how young women are propping up the electric guitar industry. “It’s great,” he said, that there are “little Chrissie Hyndes running around.” Introducing “Nite Owls,” he talked about two clubs that no longer exist, Roadkill, in Tulsa, and Rec Room, in Oklahoma City, where a woman named Clavelle (I hope I’ve spelled this right) who would dance alone. McPherson’s performance included several more tracks from the album: “Baby Blues,” “I Can’t Go Anywhere With You,” “Don’t Travel Through the Night Alone,” and “Shining Like Gold,” in his encore.

Watch the official music video for “Sunshine Getaway” by JD McPherson on YouTube:

After “Just Like Summer,” JD played the evening’s first cover song, Iggy Pop’s “Lust For Life.” The other cover in the set was the Velvet Underground’s “White Light/White Heat.” JD mentioned the EP of covers he released, saying that, though this song isn’t on it, the Velvet Underground is “one of my favorite bands,” as they are for any number of musicians.

McPherson’s set also included a number of favorites from his earlier albums. He played “Fire Bug,” “Wolf Teeth,” “Lucky Penny,” “Head Over Heels,” a dance song that got the audience involved, clapping along to the beat, and “On The Lips,” closing his main set with the title cut from Let The Good Times Roll. In addition to “Shining Like Gold,” his encore included “Phantom Lover” and “North Side Gal,” the single that broke his career.

On his podcast, Walking the Floor, Chris Shiflett once said that Americana is where all the “guitar-based acts” are being placed now. McPherson’s music has been affixed with that description, and he records for New West, a label that specializes in Americana. But there really isn’t anything country about his music: There’s no mandolin, fiddle, banjo, or pedal steel — and while he does have an Oklahoma accent, there’s little to no twang here. What he plays is really just a classic-sounding but modernized version of rock ‘n roll; that might seem like it needs to be siloed, because rock ‘n roll is no longer the dominant genre in the musical mainstream (having given way to hip hop and pop.)

One of the highlights of this show was JD’s guitar playing. In addition to his own recording and touring, he’s worked as a guitar slinger for Nick Lowe and, more recently, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant (he played lead guitar and opened for them when they played Wolf Trap this past June). From my perch on the second story of The Atlantis, I had an excellent view, and JD has some fleet flingers.

Kate Clover got things started with a high-energy, hard-rocking, loud, raucous set. (If you’re going to see her, you might want to bring the earplugs for this one.) Part of the job of an opener is to get the crowd’s energy level up so they’re already hot when the headline act takes the stage, and Kate did an excellent job of this. By the time she was done, I could feel my blood pumping (and it took a couple of minutes for my eardrums to recover). She recently released her sophomore LP, The Apocalypse Dream, and her set included songs from that album, like “Damage Control,” as well as numbers from her debut, Love You To Death, like “Channel Zero.” Kate’s vibe reminded me of Debbie Harry from Blondie, but she rocks way harder.

Here are some photos of JD McPherson performing at The Atlantis on Oct. 1, 2024. All pictures copyright and courtesy of James Miller.

 

Here are some photos of Kate Clover performing at The Atlantis on Oct. 1, 2024. All pictures copyright and courtesy of James Miller.